Fall Canvas Updates

This fall, Canvas has rolled out several updates. Here are some highlights:

Smart Search: You may have noticed “Smart Search” in the course navigation. This allows teachers and students to search the whole course and Canvas will present the most fitting results for that term. More info.

New Quizzes: Add Time to Existing Quiz Sessions: While a New Quiz attempt is ongoing, instructors can moderate a quiz and extend the time allotted for the quiz. Additionally, the student course-level accommodation modal link is moved to the Student column. Previously, this was linked in the Accommodations column.

Location to add time to an active quiz

New Quizzes: View Log now shows when and for how long a student navigated away from the quiz.

View of quiz moderation

Coming Soon (11/16):

Multiple Due Dates (Checkpoints) in Discussion: When creating a graded discussion, instructors can set multiple due dates or checkpoints to accommodate different stages of the discussion process, such as the initial post and follow-up replies.

Options for discussion checkpoints

Speedgrader Experience: Faster load times and enhanced stability in Speedgrader. Additionally, there will be some interface updates:

  • A streamlined interface for the Section drop-down menu
  • A clearer and more prominent No Submission alert
  • The Submission Status is updated to a drop-down menu
  • Rubrics are automatically displayed in the traditional view
  • Media attachments and submission comments are moved and the delete icon is changed.

Rubric Improvements: 

  • You can import and export Canvas rubrics in a CSV or XML format.
  • On the Rubrics page, instructors can copy rubrics from the current course to another course.

 

 

Canva Teams Explained

canva teams explained

Canva is an incredible tool that can be used to create stunning visuals for a variety of purposes. From presentations to social media graphics, Canva has everything you need to bring your ideas to life.

Team Up for Success

location of team switcher in Canva

When using Canva, it’s important to be mindful of which team you’re creating under. This will determine who can access and collaborate on your designs. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

  • School Team: If you’re creating designs to share with students or collaborate with colleagues within your school, make sure you’re creating under your school’s team.
  • District Team: For district-wide projects or collaborations, switch to the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools team. Students should NOT create under this team, we are hopeful that we will be removing students access to this team soon.
  • Public Links: If you forget to switch teams you may need to create a public link, please note that students don’t have this option.

Canva Resources to Get You Started

To help you get started with Canva, check out these helpful resources:

Action Required to Utilize Newsela with Canvas

title image

We have encountered some teachers having issue when trying to set up their Canvas/Newsela integration this school year. We have identified the problem and an easy solution to move forward. It is essential to archive any Clever-created Newsela classes before setting up the Canvas/Newsela integration. These Clever-created courses were launched automatically at the beginning of the school year. If you would rather link you classes with Canvas you can login to Newsela:

  1. Click your initials in the upper right corner. Select Settings.
  2. Click the Class Directory and find the class in your list of classes.
  3. Change the status to Archived

    Location to archive/activate courses in Newsela
    Location to archive/activate courses in Newsela

Please note, this will remove record of previous assignments. You can always follow these steps again to re-activate the class if you lose unintended data.

This step is crucial because attempting to sync while active Clever classes exist may lead to syncing conflicts.

Once you have archived the Clever classes, you can proceed with setting up the Canvas/Newsela integration by following the instructions in the Canvas/Newsela Teacher Setup Guide. This will allow for seamless syncing of your Canvas courses with Newsela.

Tech-Focused November PD Courses

Per Kevin Karr’s communication, teachers have several options of courses for the November PD Window. We wanted to highlight several, new offerings you might consider taking.

Elementary focused:

If you are new to the district:

If you are interested in learning more about some of our paid digital subscriptions, search for courses on: Canvas, IXL, Edpuzzle, and Newsela.

 

Google Docs: A New Tab on Efficiency!

Google Docs has just rolled out an awesome new feature that will revolutionize the way you organize your documents. Similar to the tabs you use in Google Sheets, you can now add multiple sections to a single Doc. This means less clutter, fewer files to manage, and a more streamlined workflow. See the image below to locate the feature.

location of doc tabs on menu

Whether you’re a teacher, administrator, or simply looking to boost your productivity, tabbed documents offer a world of possibilities. Imagine organizing lesson plans, student portfolios, or group projects into a single, well-structured document. You can even create separate tabs for different drafts of a research paper or compile past newsletters into a single resource.

If you want to take a look at how it looks, make a copy of this tabbed document demo made by John Sowash, creator of the Chromebook Classroom blog. You can read his post about this feature, here. While you are there, check out his blog, I just learned you can now add a star rating in Google Forms.

New Feature: Classwize Focus Library

focus mode options

Focus Plans are a new feature in Classwize that allow teachers to curate and save lists of online resources for students to use during class. This exciting addition to Classwize can help teachers create more focused and engaging learning experiences by:

  • Minimizing Distractions: Teachers can use Focus Plans to restrict student internet access to a specific set of websites, applications, or online tools relevant to the lesson or activity. This helps eliminate distractions from non-educational websites and apps, keeping students on track and engaged in the learning process.
  • Promoting Responsible Technology Use: By providing students with a pre-selected list of trustworthy and educational resources, Focus Plans encourage responsible online behavior and digital citizenship. Teachers can curate resources that align with their curriculum goals and ensure students are accessing high-quality, age-appropriate content.
  • Saving Time and Effort: Once created, Focus Plans can be easily reused across multiple classes and lessons, saving teachers valuable time and effort. This allows teachers to focus on delivering engaging instruction and interacting with students, rather than constantly managing internet access.

How to Create a Focus Plan:

Creating a Focus Plan in Classwize is simple and intuitive:

  1. Go to Classwize > Focus Library.
  2. Select Create Focus.
  3. Enter a Name for your plan.
  4. In the Resources field, start typing the website, application, or URL you want to include.
    • Classwize provides a dropdown menu with suggestions, making it easy to find and select the desired resource.
  5. Add as many resources as needed to your Focus Plan.
  6. Choose whether to have Classwize Open tabs for each resource or simply close all other tabs that are not included in the plan.
  7. Select Save Focus to save your plan or Save & Create New to create another plan.

With its ease of use and powerful functionality, the new Focus Plans feature in Classwize is a valuable tool for teachers looking to enhance their classroom management strategies and promote a more focused and productive digital learning environment.

Find more information about Focus Mode in our Classwize Tech Guide.

Consult Classwize’s guide to creating a Focus Plan and adding to your Focus Library.

NotebookLM: The AI Assistant Revolutionizing K-12 Education

Decorative blog

NotebookLM is an innovative tool that can greatly enhance teaching and learning in K-12 classrooms. This powerful AI-driven platform allows teachers to upload a variety of source materials, including Google Docs, Slides, PDFs, text files, and web pages. Once uploaded, NotebookLM generates a comprehensive guide with summaries, key topics, and thought-provoking questions to help students engage with the material.  By leveraging NotebookLM’s ability to synthesize information and provide insightful guidance, K-12 teachers can create a more engaging and effective learning environment for their students.

Not only that, but it can generate a deep dive conversation (sounds like a podcast conversation) to share with students. Take a look at the screenshot below that shows some of items Notebook LM can create.

Notebook LM capabilities

Be aware, due to terms of service students cannot interact with these notebooks. However, you can take the resources it creates and copy them to a Google doc. Audio overviews can be downloaded and shared with students.

Want to learn more?

Submit a tech ticket to get in touch with a Technology Integration Specialist if you have additional questions.

Create a Screencast in Google Slides

introducing Google slides

Google recently added the ability to make a video recording of your Google Slides directly with in their platform. You can record up to 30 minutes, but keep in mind that viewership and attention go down significantly after 6 minutes! After recording you can choose to Re-record or Save to Drive.

Location of record button

Record a slideshow

Important:

  • There’s a 30-minute limit to every recording.
  • Information about Slides recordings isn’t available in Revision History.
  • If you exceed your Drive Storage quota, you can’t create more recordings.
  • You must have edit access to the slides in order to create a new recording.
  1. To open your presentation, go to Google Slides.
  2. To record your slideshow, in the top right, click Rec  and then Record new video.
  3. To start recording, in the middle, click the red record button.
    • To start over, pause and click Re-record.
    • To save your recording, pause and click Save to Drive.

Find your recording

  1. On your computer, go to Google Slides.
  2. Open the presentation where you created the recording.
  3. Click Rec .
  4. Select your recording from the list that appears.

Tip: Recordings are saved into a My Drive folder called Slides recordings.

Slides recording options

Share your recording

Recordings can be shared to collaborators on the document immediately after creation.

  1. On your computer, go to Google Slides.
  2. Open the presentation where you created the recording.
  3. To share your recording, click the title of the recording from the list.
  4. The video in the full-screen player layout appears.
  5. In the top right, you can find the option to share.
    • Select the user, audience, or URL visibility rules.

Tip: Alternatively, you can share a recording like you would share any file in Drive. Learn how to share files from Google Drive.

Teacher Usage Ideas

  • Record yourself giving directions that you would give the same way to the entire class
  • Record yourself going through your daily agenda slides and post for absent students
    • Tip: If you post the link in Canvas, make sure you click the spacebar so you have a clickable link! Avoid this unclickable link:

An unclickable link

Note: Students do not currently have access to this feature–stay tuned

  • Have students insert a picture of their work on a slide and record themselves reflecting on their work
  • Students can record a presentation they created for class

Tip: If you want to embed videos in Canvas, then Canvas Studio is a better option. Canvas Studio Guide – Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)

Elementary students can utilize Seesaw’s recording tools.

Linewize Content Filtering on P-CCS Google Accounts

Linewize

The district’s adoption of Linewize provides several advantages for our students, staff, and families. We have streamlined our content filtering process, leading to a more user-friendly experience and simplified troubleshooting. Our educators can now leverage Classwize for digital classroom management across various devices (Chromebooks, MacBooks, and Windows) and have the ability to customize classroom-specific filtering rules (within established parameters). Furthermore, Qustodio empowers families to monitor their students’ online activities outside of school hours, even on personal devices, promoting a safer digital environment.

An additional advantage of Linewize is our ability to implement filtering rules based on user accounts, not just devices. This means P-CCS Google accounts will have content filtering applied whether they are used on district-owned or personal devices. When students or staff log into the Chrome browser with their P-CCS Google account, the Linewize extension is automatically installed, ensuring that the district’s filtering policies are applied within that browser window. It’s important to note that these filtering rules only apply to activity within the Chrome browser while signed into a P-CCS Google account.

Users can browse without Linewize content filtering on a personal device by signing out of their P-CCS Google account in Chrome, creating a separate Chrome profile not associated with their P-CCS account, or using a different web browser altogether.

Please note that signing into the Chrome browser is different than signing into any Google website. Signing into Chrome syncs your browsing data and settings, while signing into a Google website only grants access to that specific site and other Google websites.

Classwize–Devices not Connecting?

wait for connection

Are you using Classwize to help you manage student devices in your classroom? If so, you may notice that some student tiles show “Waiting for Student Activity.” What might be going on with that?

Classwize will try to connect to your students’ devices while the class is in session. When Classwize doesn’t get a response from the students’ device, their student tiles will display “Waiting for student activity.”

Some of the reasons why you’re seeing “Waiting for student activity” may include:

  • You haven’t started your class.
  • You’ve just started the class and Classwize is still connecting to your student’s device.
  • The student:
    • Is unavailable, offline, or having issues connecting to the school network or internet
    • Has left their computer on idle for at least 90 seconds
    • Is using a browser that blocks third-party cookies
    • Is on macOS and hasn’t allowed Classwize to monitor their screen
    • Is using a device that doesn’t have the Connect Linewize extension (reminder: Sign into Chrome! and see below for what to look for)
      • ✔Many students don’t seem to realize they are in Safari or Edge
      • ✔ If they are on a personal chromebook, they can’t be logged into their personal account. They need to logout of the device and log back into the device with their school credentials.
    • Is attempting to circumvent the school’s filtering by logging into their personal Google account, using Guest or Incognito mode, or hotspotting on a mobile network.
      • ✔ BYOD students might be unsure how to get on the proper wifi and have resorted to going on a hotspot. Students may need these directions to learn how to login properly. https://tech.pccsk12.com/wifi/

 

Note for district Chromebooks not connecting: Remove the student’s user profile from the Chromebook and then have them sign in again. Video directions.

If you feel like you have investigated these potential issues to the best of your ability, please send a diagnostics log to Classwize with the following steps:

  • Click the Linewize extension.

location of extension

  • Click the gear icon in the bottom right.

location of gear to access settings

  • Send diagnostics to Classwize.

command to send diagnostics log

  • Finally, please submit a P-CCS tech ticket naming the student(s), date, approximate time, and class/teacher. When we get this information, we’ll reach out to Classwize to follow up.

We appreciate your partnership in launching this new tool at P-CCS.